Beach Time Adventures!
by AeronielofMirkwood
Summary: It has been a long and tedious few months. Many Fairy Tail members have decided to take some time off and go on a mini vacation to a beautiful, secluded ocean-side town. Will this vacation spell new steamy romance? Will it spell disaster? Or will it be a plain vacation? Rated T for occasional language and minor sexual suggestive themes! Pairings are: NaLu, Gruvia, Mireed, Gajevy.
1. Chapter 1: The Start

Beach Time Adventures!

Chapter 1: The Start

Most of the Fairy Tail wizards that didn't have jobs decided to go to take the weekend off and go to the beach together and stay in a house for the weekend. Master Makarov did not necessarily think that was a brilliant idea knowing the destructive power of a certain flame thrower and ice machine. He was surprised to find out that they were actually able to rent the house as well as to hear what the term was for rental. Erza was to keep her eyes on the dragon slayer and ice maker whenever possible to prevent any unnecessary damage from occurring. Only 50,000 jewels, much cheaper than Lucy's rent! She even jokingly thought about permanently renting the house but then realized she would be too far from her friends. Elfman, Mira, Cana, Juvia, Levi, Erza, and a few others had already left the day before Natsu, Happy and Lucy so the three of them had to walk through the Forest of Truth to get to the house since there are no roads in or out of the remote beach town of Cerulean.

The Forest of Truth is a forest the size of Magnolia that separates Magnolia from Cerulean. The forest is also rumored to have mystical properties that help one realize their heart's truth, hence the name. The town of Cerulean is known for being secluded and very old fashioned. Despite this, the forest was well traveled by other people due to the fact the Cerulean is also a popular tourist location for those looking for adventure or relaxation. The journey through the forest takes about half a day on foot. Lucy, Natsu, and Happy departed from the guild at 9am. Natsu was glad that he didn't have to ride any transportation to get to Cerulean. It was nearly 10am when Natsu, Happy, and Lucy reached the Forest of Truth. About 5 minutes after entering the forest, Natsu started walking closer to Lucy and then said, "Oi Luce, what do you think of relationships?"

_Why am I asking her this? What am I thinking? Why is my heart beating so fast? Why is it whenever I look at Lucy, my stomach drops?,_ thought Natsu.

Lucy didn't understand why he asked her that question. "Uh, I don't know. They are nice I guess. But I can't really say…" her voice trailed off.

"Oh, okay! I forgot you've never had one." Natsu gave a half-hearted laugh as he said this and tuned his face away from Lucy's. She didn't understand why he was acting so strange and why he asked her that weird question, so she just shrugged it off.

"He llllllllikes you," whispered Happy into Lucy's ear.

"Cats aren't supposed to talk! Just sit there and meow!" said Lucy. She was partially embarrassed about what had happened followed by Happy's remark. Then Natsu got quiet.

"Natsu, are you okay?" asked Lucy.

"Huh? Oh yeah Luce, I'm fine!" He blushed a little and turned his face away from hers. He looked at Lucy who was now a little ways ahead of him and humming.

"Oi Lucy, you seem to be in a good mood today," said Natsu.

"Huh, what? Oh, I'm just excited to enjoy the beach with everyone! Right Happy?"

"Aye, sir!" exclaimed Happy.

Natsu was still a few feet behind Lucy when she said, "Come on Natsu! Usually I am the one struggling to keep up with you!"

_I'm going to do it! I refuse to be nervous around her. What kind of Fairy Tail wizard am I if I can't even do this simple thing?,_ thought Natsu.

"Oi Lucy, can I ask you something?" said Natsu.

"Hmm, what is it?"

"Oh, well… It's more of an action than a question…"

Lucy just looked at Natsu with a puzzled look. Then Natsu suddenly reached down for Lucy's hand and grabbed ahold of it. Lucy could feel her face turning as red as Erza's hair.

"Wh..Wh..What are you doing, Natsu?!" exclaimed Lucy.

He had a firm grip on Lucy's hand, though it wasn't a forceful hold. It was warm and kind. She started thinking, _why is he doing this all of a sudden? There's no way he could… Happy couldn't be right. He was just teasing!_

Still walking hand in hand, Natsu looked a little embarrassed, but happy. Lucy couldn't help but smile at the dragon slayer. As Lucy was looking at him, she began to think..

_Gosh he's so attractive. I know I've thought that for a while, but I just can't stop thinking about it now that he held my hand… But wait, we are team members and anything between us would make things difficult, right? But, at the same time I don't want him to let go of my hand._ Lucy kept walking hand in hand with Natsu, just treasuring the moment that they were sharing. Then Lucy thought, _wait,_ _what if this is all part of him just teasing me?!_

_I will laugh to make things less awkward and more relaxed. I hope this works_, thought Natsu.

Natsu let go of her hand and stopped walking. Lucy turned to him and was about to ask if he was okay when suddenly he burst out laughing. Lucy was extremely confused and angry. She knew he was just messing with her. She was so mad at herself for thinking that Natsu actually liked her back. She stormed off without even looking back.

"Oi Lucy, where are you going?" asked Natsu while looking at Happy extremely confused.

"To get away from you!" Lucy was teeming with anger. Natsu didn't understand why she was so mad all of a sudden and why she wanted to get away from him. He was worried about what was wrong and thought that laughing maybe wasn't such a good idea, but he shrugged it off knowing that Lucy would eventually get over whatever it was that made her mad. Then, Lucy suddenly stopped in her tracks. _I'm going to get even with him for this_, she thought. Lucy decided that she would tease him back but she wasn't sure how to go about it. _If I take it too far, my feelings for him might become exposed or it might not even bother him. I have to think about this carefully_, thought Lucy. She decided that she would use her "sex appeal" and make sure there was no such thing as personal space. She was sure that that would be enough to get Natsu back. Lucy eventually let Natsu catch up to her and they were walking a little farther from each other than they were earlier. It was now past 11am. It had only been about two hours since they set out from Magnolia and they still had about six more before they were going to reach Cerulean. Lucy thought to herself, _it's now or never Luce. If you don't do it now, you'll never have this kind of courage again._

"Oi Natsu…" said Lucy.

"Hmm? What's up? You feeling better now Luce?" asked Natsu. To her, he seemed genuinely concerned.

_It's all a part of his plan_, she thought. _He thinks this is all a joke._ Lucy unbuttoned her beach cover-up a little more to show more of her chest and started to move in a little closer to him. She then latched onto his left arm while pressing her breasts up against it. Lucy was happy she decided to wear her bathing suit instead of packing it. Natsu turned to look at her and when he saw what she was doing, his cheeks started to turn the color of his hair.

_What is she doing_?, he thought. _This isn't like Lucy. Maybe if I just keep walking and try not to acknowledge it, she will stop._ It appeared to Lucy that this small act of sexualizing herself didn't appear to be working on Natsu. She decided to take it up a notch. She grabbed for Natsu's hand while still pressing her body up against his and then rested her head on his shoulder. Although Natsu wasn't showing it, it was starting to break him. _I can't believe Lucy is doing this! What is wrong with her? I hope she's not getting sick. This isn't like her. At the same time though, I don't want her to stop. I love having her so close to me,_ he thought. Even as he thought this, he was doing a good job of not showing it on his face.

Lucy was getting frustrated again. _Why is it not working?_, she thought. _I was sure that this would drive him nuts! I guess I will just have to step it up even more! But what should I do next?_ Then, as if her mind and body weren't collaborating together anymore she went and kissed Natsu on the cheek. They both stopped in their tracks. Lucy immediately let go of Natsu and stammered a few feet away from him. _What did I just do? Did that really just happen?!_, thought Lucy. She could feel her face burning up. She knew she must have looked as red as a lobster.

Natsu looked extremely confused and shocked, but surprisingly happy. Lucy wasn't expecting that reaction. _Did she really just kiss me? Is this a dream? What just happened?_, though Natsu. Happy was giggling in the background, although Lucy and Natsu didn't even seem to notice.

Still pink in the cheeks, Natsu said "Oi, Luce…. Uh… What…", but all he could do was stammer and blush.

"I….I….I…. I'm sorry!" exclaimed Lucy as she immediately put her head down and tried to hide her blushing face. _I'm so embarrassed_, she thought.

"Why?" asked Natsu. Lucy then looked up at his face to see that toothy grin she loved so much. She felt a little bit better, but still couldn't help but to think that he was still messing with her. Then as if nothing had happened, Natsu looked straight into Lucy's eyes and grabbed her hand again. Lucy smiled and blushed. At that moment she knew that he was no longer teasing her. They continued to walk like that for about two hours. Happy was now just flying behind them. He couldn't believe what he saw himself.

It was now a little after 3 pm. Natsu decided he would carry Lucy for a few hundred yards then set her down after she rested a little. He could tell she was starting to get tired from all this walking.

"Oi Lucy, you look tired. Want me to carry you?" said Natsu.

"Hmm? Oh uh no, I think I can manage…" said Lucy. She didn't want to trouble him. She could just call upon Horologium to carry her but she decided to keep walking without any help.

"Come on Luce, let me carry you for a bit!" insisted Natsu.

"…Okay, but only for a little while."

Both Natsu and Lucy stopped walking and Lucy got on Natsu's back and wrapped her legs around his stomach. She could feel the warmth emanating off his body. It was a moment of pure ecstasy for her. Natsu couldn't help to blush because he realized that he would have to touch Lucy's thighs to hold her properly. He was a little embarrassed. Lucy was happy to just be able to relax a bit and let her feet and legs rest. Natsu continued to carry her like that for over an hour, and within the time Lucy had fallen asleep.

It was now near 4:30 pm and the sun was sinking lower into the sky. They were getting closer to Cerulean and would reach the town in less than 45 minutes. Lucy had woken up a little while ago and Natsu set her down. They walked very near each other. Their movements were almost perfectly in sync. Lucy was asking Natsu a question, but his mind was elsewhere.

_Now is the best time to do it! The sunset is beautiful and it makes Lucy's skin glow. What could be more romantic than this? I have to do it before we reach Cerulean. And if Gray were to see me, I would never live it down_, thought Natsu.

Then just when they were about to reach the gate to the town, Natsu stopped and looked at Lucy with sincere and passionate eyes. Lucy blushed a bit and turned away._ Why is he looking at me like that?_, she thought.

"Oi Natsu, what's up? We are almost there. Let's keep moving," said Lucy. She hoped that would break his focus and they could keep moving. As Lucy started to walk away, Natsu latched onto her wrist and pulled her close to him. Lucy turned to see his face within inches of hers. Natsu leaned as if he was going to kiss her on the lips, but as if Lucy's words just reached Natsu's ears, he stopped and let go of Lucy's wrist.

"Come on Luce! We are already late as it is! Let's go meet up with everyone else!" exclaimed Natsu. Then he bolted towards the gate. Once he saw the gate to Cerulean, he became like the normal Natsu. Lucy stood still. Her face was completely flushed. She was so embarrassed. She shook it off and ran as fast as she could to catch up to Natsu.


	2. Chapter 2: Arrival

Chapter 2: Arrival

Natsu, Lucy, and Happy entered the town of Cerulean to find it so full of life and excitement. They weren't quite sure where the house was that they were staying at so they decided they would ask someone. They also figured that they would enjoy dinner while they were out. Walking through the streets, they noticed that the town was very high class and well developed considering that there were no paved roads or railroad tracks in or out of Cerulean. Everyone who lived there appeared as if they were preparing for an event of some sort. This made Lucy and Natsu curious as to what all the commotion was about. Natsu, Happy and Lucy all tried to ask the natives what was going on, but the only response they kept receiving was, "I'm sorry! I can't stop to help you visitors! I am very busy! I am very sorry!" And with that, each citizen ran off to do whatever they were busy with.

After walking around and viewing the shops in town for a while, they came across a quaint little pub in the center of town called "The Green Dragon". Natsu saw the name and automatically decided he wanted to eat there. He figured that anything that had to do with food and dragons, which were two of his favorite things, must be an awesome place. They walked into The Green Dragon to find it has the same atmosphere as their guild back home; Violent, destructive, crazy, and full of energy. Lucy couldn't believe that they walked into this pub. She immediately thought that Natsu had already run off and would probably get into a fight shortly. To her surprise, she saw that Natsu was still standing next to her.

"Oi Natsu, you okay? I would have thought that by now you would be involved with the brawls here," asked Lucy. She looked at his face and it appeared as if he was deep in thought and zoned out. She waved her hand in front of his face to get his attention.

"Hmm? Oh sorry Luce, I was just thinking about something and I'm not really in the mood to fight, I just want to eat everything! Let's go Happy!" shouted Natsu.

"Aye, sir!" shouted Happy, and with that, the dragon slayer and his Aera using feline friend stormed off towards the bar, took a seat and demanded to have one of everything of their menu. Lucy was curious as to what Natsu was thinking about but she decided she would ask him later tonight once they were back at the house with everyone.

As she walked over to the bar where Natsu and Happy were seated, she noticed that some of the other patrons' conversations seemed kind of funny and strange. She could only hear certain parts, but the words that stood out the most to her were "attack", "wizards", and "3 days". She knew that since these words were taken out of context, they didn't mean much but they were still strange. As far as Lucy knew, there were no wizard guilds in Cerulean and Fairy Tail was the only guild they knew of that was currently staying in the town. She decided that she would ask Erza for more details later when they were all together.

When Lucy arrived at the bar, Natsu and Happy were already stuffing their faces with mountains of food. They had actually gone and ordered one of everything off the menu. She couldn't believe that Natsu was that hungry after only half a day's worth of walking, but within 5 minutes of smelling that food she had become quite hungry as well. She was just about to wave to the bartender to get his attention to order something when Natsu grabbed her arm and pulled it back down to her side.

"What was that for Natsu?! I was about to order something!" exclaimed Lucy.

"What for? I was going to offer some of mine. I _**did**_ go and order one of everything!" said Natsu. He gave Lucy his signature toothy grin. Lucy was surprised that Natsu had said that.

_He is usually too preoccupied with stuffing his own face to worry about others when it comes to food_, thought Lucy. As she thought this, Natsu was already putting some roasted chicken, sautéed string beans, French fries, and half of his turkey bacon cheeseburger on a plate for her and placed the plate in front of her.

"That okay Luce? You like turkey burgers right?" asked Natsu. Lucy looked down at the plate in front of her was and pleasantly surprised to see what was on it. _Since when did he learn that my favorite food is turkey burgers? I don't think I ever told him that_, thought Lucy.

"Thanks Natsu!" said Lucy with an ecstatic grin on her face. That smile made Natsu happy. He loved seeing his favorite Celestial Spirit wizard smile.

As they sat at the bar and ate their meal, the pub started to get more rambunctious around them. _This really is just like home_, thought Lucy. She looked over to the dragon slayer sitting on her left and was still very surprised to see that he was completely unfazed by the noise all around him. In fact, he actually looked like he was getting pissed off. _This is unlike him. He normally just starts spewing fire and shouting_, Lucy thought. Suddenly, Natsu slammed his fist down on the bar.

"Dammit! I wish they would just shut up! I want to finish my food in peace!" shouted Natsu. Both Happy and Lucy looked at him in shock.

"You okay Natsu? You're really acting weird," said Lucy.

"Well, aren't we here for a vacation with the other guild mates? I am kinda looking forward to relaxing a bit," stated Natsu.

Happy put his paws over his mouth to hide his laughing. "You? Relaxing? I don't think that is possible Natsu," said Happy.

"You do realize that relaxing means no fighting with Gray or Erza or Elfman and that you just take it easy, right?" questioned Lucy.

"WHAT?! NOBODY TOLD ME THAT!" shouted Natsu. Lucy and Happy both just looked at each other and shook their heads in shame and went back to eat their food. Natsu didn't saying anything else the rest of the time they were in the pub.

They had just finished eating when the bartender came over with their bill. Lucy was afraid to know how much Natsu and Happy spent when they order one of everything, but she figured that she would at least pay for the food that Natsu had given her. She lifted up the bill and went all the way to the bottom. She could tell the price was high due to the receipt being almost 3 feet long. When her eyes finally met with the price tag, she almost fell off the stool she was sitting on. _Holy shit! 7,564 Jewels! I can't believe all that food cost that much_, she thought. She took out her wallet and was about to put her share of the money on the table when Natsu put his hand on top of hers. Lucy looked up at Natsu and saw a stern face looking back at her.

"Don't worry Luce, I got this," said Natsu.

"You sure Natsu? That's a lot of money to lay down for food, even for you," said Lucy.

"Don't worry about it, it's my treat to you!" said Natsu with a grin on his face.

Natsu paid the tab and they left the bar. Lucy was surprised at Natsu's generosity. She couldn't help but smile at that. As the trio was making their way out of The Green Dragon, Lucy could still her some of the patrons talking about wizards and something happening in 3 days. She was really curious as to what was going to happen. She knew that she needed to ask Erza about this as soon as possible. Lucy stopped in her tracts. She had just realized something.

"Uhh, Natsu? We still have no freaking clue where the house is yet. We need to ask someone and find our way there. It's getting darker out," stated Lucy.

"Ohhh! That's right!" exclaimed Natsu. And with that, he ran towards the nearest person, grabbed their shirt, and asked them where the house was located. _He gets way to violent at small things sometimes_, thought Lucy as she sighed. Natsu came back only a few minutes later with the directions and Lucy and Happy followed him to their destination.

It was now past 8:30 pm when they arrive at the beach house. Even though it was getting later in the evening, Cerulean wasn't calming down. They were just as busy, if not busier than they were when Natsu, Happy, and Lucy had first arrived.

"I know that Mira, Erza, Cana, and Levy are here, as well as Elfman, Freed, Jet and Droy. But who else came with us?" asked Lucy.

"I think Macao, Wakaba, Wendy, Juvia and Carla came too," said Happy.

The three of them walked into the house and Lucy was surprised to see how beautiful and roomy it was. _Maybe I really will move here_, she thought. Natsu departed from the group and went to sit on the couches in the main hall with the other guys from the guild. Happy went ahead and followed him. Lucy decided she would explore the house a little bit before she went out back to where she thought the other girls would be. Lucy noticed when she first walked into the house that there was a large main dining hall that was a bar-dining room-living room setup and one full bathroom. She couldn't help but to admire the amazing architecture. There were 9 foot ceilings in the main dining hall and one of the walls was covered in a hand painted mural of what appeared to be the Forest of Truth. Lucy had just begun to wonder why they called the forest that anyway. She continued through the house and up the stairs onto the next floor. On the second floor, there were 3 main bedrooms, 2 of which had 2 beds each and the other had a king sized bed. There were also 2 full bathrooms and a small balcony overlooking the beach and ocean in the bedroom with the king sized bed. She saw Mira, Levy, Juvia and the other girls out on the dock chatting with each other. As she was turning to go back down stairs and hang out with the girls, she noticed that there was another stair case leading to a third floor. She climbed up the stairs onto the third floor and realized that it is entirely open. There were 3 beds laid out, as well as a mound of pillows and blankets at least 4 feet high. _There are not enough beds here so I guess some of us will be sleeping together I wonder who will be bunking with who_, pondered Lucy. Since she had gone and seen the whole house, she decided she would go and say hi to the girls out back.

Lucy continued down the 2 flights of stairs and out onto the dock to see what Mira, Juvia, Levy and the other girls of the guild were up to. _I can't let them know that I accidentally kissed Natsu when we were in the Forest of Truth. Mira would never shut up about it and end up coming up with some crazy plan like always_, she thought.

"Oi minna!" shouted Lucy with a smile while waving at everyone.

"Hiya Lu-chan!" said Levy. She ran over and gave her best friend a hug.

"Oi Lucy! How were your travels here? Are you tired?" asked Mira. Lucy couldn't help but think about when Natsu had carried her for a while in the forest because her legs and feet were sore. She still couldn't believe she fell asleep on his back like that.

"Mira! No, I'm not tired at all! It wasn't too bad of a journey getting here either. We would have gotten to the house sooner, but Natsu, Happy, and I stopped for dinner at this really boisterous pub called The Green Dragon! It reminded me a lot of Fairy Tail," said Lucy.

"Well, it _**is**_ a pub. I bet their specialty there is drinking and drinking games!" said Cana. "Maybe I'll stop over there and have a little contest with them." As she said this, she gave a cynical laugh. Lucy was sure that Cana was thinking of a way to make the game profitable since she is one of the best drinkers Lucy knows.

"So Lucy… did anything happen between you and Natsu while walking here?" asked Mira with a devilish smile on her face.

"Pshh, please Mira. Like Natsu would do anything…" said Lucy. _I have to get off this topic quick or else I might start blushing and Mira will find out!_

"We never said Natsu would do something. Did, by chance, you do something, Lucy?" questioned Erza as she raised an eyebrow and placed her hand on her hips. _Shit, I need to talk my way out of this_, thought Lucy.

"I didn't really do anything. It just he was teasing me a little about stuff so I got revenge. That's it," said Lucy.

"What kind of revenge? And what was he teasing you about?" asked Levy.

"Well…. Uh…. Hmm… Happy and Natsu were, well they were teasing me about relationship stuff I guess and stuff happened and well… anyway I got revenge on him," said Lucy. She could already feel her face turning a light shade of pink.

"Oi, Lu-chan if you don't wanna…." Before Levy could finish her sentence, Lucy said, "I kissed him, okay?!" Lucy immediately threw her hands over her mouth._ Shit, shit, SHIT! I spilled it_, thought Lucy. She put her head in her hands. She looked up to see everyone looking at her in disbelief. There was a moment of silence, when suddenly Mira and Levy screamed "AHHHH!" They immediately hugged her.

"Tell us everything that happened, Lucy!" said Mira and Levy in unison.

"Well, he was teasing me about never having a boyfriend and was asking me weird questions about relationships like if they are fun and whatnot. I didn't understand why he was acting like that. Then out of nowhere he reached down and held me hand for a while and we both blushed and walked like that for a while. They he left go and started laughing. I was sure that he was just pulling a prank on me, so I got frustrated so I decided I would tease him back and well… I sort of got carried away and I decided I would pull my trump card and kiss him on the cheek to really shock him. Although, it was too late by the time I realized I was actually doing it!" exclaimed Lucy. She could feel her cheeks getting flushed as she explained what had happened.

Erza gave a sigh of relief and said "Finally." Lucy looked confused.

_Did they all go ahead of me and Natsu so this sort of thing would happen?_, thought Lucy.

After hearing the summary, Mirajane was smiling and giggling like a little school girl and demanded more details, so Lucy told them everything that had happened up to when they reached the gate. Lucy was tired of having a million and one questions thrown at her from Mira, Erza, and Levy so she decided to change the subject and started talking about their jobs, kind of like chores, that the master has some of them do around the guild. Some of the chores consist of ordering new merchandise, alcohol and other drinks, food, cleaning the showers and bathrooms, etc. During this conversation, Lucy couldn't help but notice that Juvia seemed a little down and distracted.

"Oi Juvia, are you okay? You seem down," asked Lucy.

"Juvia would like to know where Gray-sama is now," said Juvia while putting her hands on the sides of her face.

"I think he stayed behind at the guild to finish helping the master with some kind of chore, but he should be here soon." said Levy. Juvia let out a heavy sigh after hearing this news.

"In fact, I think he left a few hours after you and Natsu did, Lucy," said Erza. _Thank god we didn't see him. He would make fun of Natsu forever after what happened_, thought Lucy.

"Hey Cana, you should probably try doing your jobs around the guild," suggested Mira.

"My only job is to make the alcohol disappear there," said Cana. Everyone laughed at this because they all know it to be true.

"Anyway, Lucy you should go sit and be with Natsu," said Mira while winking and nudging her elbow at Lucy.

"Uh, okay fine. Although I'm not sure where he is," said Lucy as she got up to go find him. Lucy knew Mira was probably just trying to get rid of her so she could talk up a plan with the other girls about how to get her and Natsu together.

When Lucy got back inside, she found Natsu still sitting on the couches in the main hall. He was talking to Elfman and Freed about something, but she couldn't hear what it was. She assumed Elfman was talking about being a man and Freed was probably just pitifully listening in.

"Hiya Natsu!" said Lucy as she walked in smiling and sat down next to him.

"Lucy! Is it okay if I rest my head on your lap for a bit? I think I ate too much too fast at that pub and I'm a little tired from all that walking," asked Natsu.

"Are you sure it's not because you were carrying Lucy? I mean she's soooooo heavy!" said Happy.

"Shut it, cat!" growled Lucy as she shot Happy a death stare. She then turned to Natsu and said, "Sure you can." A few minutes passed and the next thing she knew, he was asleep.

_Jeez, he's so peaceful when he sleeps. I wonder what he dreams about… _thought Lucy_._ She wanted to run her fingers through his spiky pink hair. She was about to do it until she heard Elfman and Freed say hi to Gray. She knew if she did anything romantic, Gray would never let Natsu live it down. She looked over towards the front door and saw Gray walking into the main hall. He waved at Elfman and Freed who were both sitting at the bar.

Gray saw Lucy and came near the couch her and Natsu were sitting and said "Oi Natsu! Lucy isn't your personal pillow. Get your fire ass up!"

Then as if he wasn't sleeping at all, Natsu jumped up and said, "What did you say you perverted ice man?!"

"You heard me, ash for brains!"

Natsu jumped up and yelled while clenching his fists, "I'm fired up now!"

"Calm down flame brain! You get excited too easily!" said Gray as he threw aside his shirt.

Natsu and Gray appeared to have forgotten that there were others in the room, so Elfman decided to try and calm them down before anything happened. As he walked over to them he said, "Gray, Natsu, we are here to relax like men!"

In unison, Gray and Natsu said, "YOU'RE IN THE WAY!" and shoved Elfman out of the way.

"You two will never learn," grumbled Elfman as he went back to his conversation about being manly to protect Levy with Jet and Droy. Lucy just stood off to the side and shook her head as she watched the usual conversation between these polar opposites unfold.

They were about to start fighting when Erza stormed in. Lucy guessed that she heard Natsu's big mouth.

Since Gray was facing the sliding glass door to the dock, he saw Erza first and a sudden look of terror came over his face. Natsu thought that Gray was finally showing his true fear of him and got even more fired up and was about to throw the first punch when…

"NATSU!" and at that he stopped in his tracks. The same look of terror came over his face when he realized who that voice belonged to.

"What do you think you are doing?! The only way we were able to rent this house was because I had to promise you wouldn't destroy anything!" Gray snickered. "You too, Gray!" said Erza with a stern face. Gray looked like as if he was petrified.

"Juvia! Come here and remove your man! I need to talk to Natsu alone," yelled Erza.

"Wh.. WHAT?! Wait! Since when am I her man?!" exclaimed Gray while blushing a little. Juvia was already at his side when he said this. "Come on Gray-sama; Juvia wants to go for a nighttime walk on the beach!" She locked arms with Gray as she led him out of the house.

_Gray tries so hard to seem like he doesn't like her even though it is so obvious_, thought Lucy and laughed a bit.

"Natsu, get over here! We need to have a chat," said Erza.

"Aye, sir!" said Natsu. His voice was trembling. Lucy still wasn't used to the fact that whenever in the presence of Erza, Natsu turns into a second Happy. 

**A/N: This is where it starts to get interesting and intense! Also, there will be more Gruvia in later chapters so don't worry! There may be some Mira x Freed, too! How do you guys like it so far? Let me know in a review or a PM! And thanks for taking the time to read my story!**

**~ Aeroniel**


	3. Chapter 3: The Spell of Love and Truth-1

Chapter 3: The Spell of Love and Truth- Part One

Erza walked further into the room and grabbed onto Natsu's arm and dragged him upstairs. Lucy was left with Happy, along with Droy, Jet, and Elfman. Freed had already departed and decided to go for a run on the beach. The shouting Erza could be heard throughout the whole house. She was ranting and yelling at Natsu about learning when to argue and when to shut up, regardless of whether or not Gray started it. Lucy just sat down on the couch in shame. _Why does he always act like that? Anyway, I wonder what Erza needed to talk to him about_, she thought. Without realizing it, Levy and Mira were already sitting next to her.

"Oi Lucy, what's wrong? You look distracted," said Levy.

"Hmm? Oh Levy-chan, Mira-san I didn't notice you guys there…" said Lucy. She couldn't help but think of what happened in the Forest of Truth. _Ever since we entered the town, Natsu has been acting like the normal crazy Natsu, but the Natsu I witnessed in the forest was much different. What happened back there? I wonder if he is trying to forget about it_, she thought.

"I bet she is still thinking about what happened with Natsu," said Mira to Levy. She had a devilish smile on her face. At the moment, Lucy looked up at Mira's face and knew it was all a part of Mira's plan. She knew Mira must have talked the other guild members into leaving a day prior so Lucy and Natsu could be alone, well plus Happy. Mira has tried stuff like this in the past with her and Natsu as well as Levy and Gajeel and Gray and Juvia, but all those previous attempts had somewhat failed. This was the first time Lucy could think of that one of Mira's plans had actually worked somewhat well.

"Hmm, well yeah I am, Mira-san. I just still can't believe I went and did something that. But, I am happy it turned out this way," said Lucy. She was partially lying. She was hurt by the fact that Natsu seemed as if what happened in the Forest of Truth was a dream, but at the same time she was happy that she had finally realized her feelings for Natsu. _I wonder why they call it the Forest of Truth anyway_, thought Lucy.

"Anyway Levy-chan, where's Gajeel? I haven't seen him around yet," asked Lucy.

"Oh, he said he wasn't going to come. He said it was trivial trying to go and relax like this. Then he said something about going out with Panther Lily and entering him into some fights to show off his strength. He loves that cat," said Levy. She gave a half-hearted laugh followed by a sigh while looking the other away. Lucy could tell that Levy was a little hurt by the fact that Gajeel didn't come, but she also knew how much he loved Lily even though he never expressed it that way.

"Don't worry, Levy. I'm sure he likes you!" said Mira. She shot Levy a "be happy" smile.

"You know, he's just not very good at showing his emotions, but there is definitely something there!" added Lucy.

"I know, it's just frustrating sometimes…" as Levy said this, her voice trailed off. Mira and Lucy both looked at each other as if to say _what should we say now?_

**Meanwhile, upstairs in one of the bedrooms...**

"Natsu, you big idiot! We can't have you going around fighting Gray! If this house got damaged, I'd never hear the end of it from the owner or master!" shouted Erza. She was beyond pissed off. Natsu just sat on the bed looking at his feet. He took the scolding and yelling from Erza and decided not to say anything because it might accidentally make her even angrier.

"Anyway Natsu, we are only going to be in this town for a week. Once we get back to the guild, you can fight with Gray to your heart's content," said Erza. Natsu looked up at her to see her smiling at him. "Just try to avoid any unnecessary contact with him until we leave. Try hanging out with Lucy and Happy more. I'll tell her to make sure you stay away from Gray, too."

Natsu nodded and said, "Okay, I'll try to remember that. I don't want Lucy to have a bad time because I know how much she was looking forward to this vacation. She wouldn't stop talking about it."

"Well, I am glad to hear that," said Erza with a smile. "I'll make sure to tell Gray and Juvia the same things when I see them later. So anyway, speaking of Lucy, has anything changed between you two?" Erza decided she would try her luck at matchmaking, even though she was nowhere near as good at it as Mirajane was.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" asked Natsu.

"Well, did anything happen when you guys were heading over here through that forest?" Since Erza had already heard about what happened from Lucy, she figured she would try to see if she could get Natsu to reveal his emotions a little bit. She wanted to make sure Lucy wasn't going to be hurt by this thick-headed dragon slayer.

"Nope, nothing really worth mentioning, I think. I mean she was asking a little strange once we entered Cerulean though. But I figured it was because of that long walk here. Even I'm tired!" said Natsu followed by a big yawn. Erza thought he was lying at first, but she knew he wasn't because if he was lying, Natsu already knew what she would do to him. She wondered why it appeared as if Natsu forgot about what had happened and how he acted towards Lucy in the Forest of Truth. She needed to ask more questions before coming to a conclusion. Only after thinking this, did Erza realize Natsu was still talking to her.

"... anyway, to be completely honest, I don't really remember anything about what happened in that forest," stated Natsu.

"Wait, what? You don't remember? How could you not remember?!" asked Erza. She was beginning to raise her voice again.

Natsu jumped when he heard Erza's voice get louder. "Why are you getting mad again? Did something happen that I should remember? What happened?" questioned Natsu.

"I can't really say. Lucy seems to remember, but I wonder why you can't remember anything about that forest. What was it called again?" asked Erza.

"Uh, I think Lucy called it the Forest of Truth," said Natsu. He was starting to become worried. _I don't know why I can't remember what happened, I just can't. I hope nothing happened between me and Lucy... Oh no! Maybe that's why she has been acting strangely since we entered this town. I must have made her mad! I'll go and ask her_, thought Natsu.

"Well, I'll look into it and ask Levy. She might know why this is happening," said Erza. "Just make sure not to mention this to Lucy." Erza was worried that if Lucy heard about what happened, even if it was an accident, she might be heartbroken and embarrassed. Erza thought it would be in Lucy's best interest for her not to know for the time being.

"Okay," said Natsu as he let out a heavy sigh.

**Back downstairs in the main hall...**

"Anyway Levy-chan, Mira-san, do you guys want to grab some snacks and go sit out on the beach and star gaze? I could use the relaxation and I want to see what the nighttime sky looks like here in Cerulean. I bet it has beautiful natural light since I didn't see many lamp lacrimas in town and maybe I will get some good inspiration for my novel!" said Lucy.

"Sure!" said Mira and Levy in unison. All three of the girls went over to the bar area and grabbed some apples, pretzels, and peanut butter and put them into a bag. They then went over to the back sliding door where there was a closet full of beach towels. They grabbed 3 out and put them in the bag with the food. Just as they were heading out the door, Natsu and Erza came down from upstairs. _I guess they finally finished talking_, thought Lucy. She decided she would ask Natsu what they talked about after they got back from the beach.

"Oi Lucy, where are you guys going?" asked Natsu as he noticed she was just about to leave with Mira and Levy.

"Oh, Natsu! We are going to the beach to star gaze," said Lucy.

"Actually, there was something I wanted to ask Levy about. You don't mind do you?" asked Erza to both Lucy and Levy.

"Nope, I guess no," they both replied.

"Mind if I join ya guys?" asked Natsu to Lucy.

Before Lucy could reply, Mira said with a smile, "Sorry Natsu, girls only!"

Natsu sighed and said, "Okay, I will go find Happy."

"I think he is sitting on the bar eating his fish," said Mira. "You should hang out with Elfman, Jet and Droy!" continued Mira. She was trying to make Natsu feel better. Natsu was upset because Lucy was hanging out with Mira and according to Erza's restrictions, he was not allowed to be near Gray, and so he wasn't sure what he could do to entertain himself.

Erza turned to the girls and said, "Come on Levy, there's something I want to research and I need your help. I think I saw a library somewhere in town."

"Maybe I can pick up a new book while there, too!" said Levy with excitement. And with that, Levy and Erza departed and headed towards the library. At the same time, Lucy and Mira left the house and headed to find a good spot to star gaze on the beach.

As they were walking down the sidewalk, Lucy turned to Mira and said, "I wonder what Erza and Natsu were talking about before. At first I thought she was just scolding him for fighting with Gray, but then she stopped shouting. I want to know what they talked about after!" Lucy was beginning to get impatient about it.

"Well, I'm sure that Natsu will tell you when you see him! Just ask him then," said Mira. Lucy nodded. _I'll make sure to ask him when we get back. I just hope things won't be awkward. I really hope he isn't trying to forget what happened_, thought Lucy.

They arrived on the beach about 7 minutes after they had left the house. Lucy guessed the time to be around almost 10 pm. She was starting to get sleepy and decided to only stay at the beach for a little while before heading back. As they were walking around and looking for a place to lay out their towels, Mira and Lucy eventually came across Freed who was sitting near the water's edge looking out into the ocean.

"Freed! There you are!" shouted Mira while running toward him and waving. He turned to see Mira and Lucy heading toward him. He stood up and brushed the sand off the back of his pants and his hands.

"Mira, Lucy, what are you doing out here?" asked Freed.

"We came out here to star gaze and relax a little! I was hoping to get some inspiration for my novel, but so far nothing has come to me," said Lucy.

"I'm sure you will come up with some great ideas," said Mira as she was smiling at Lucy. Lucy sighed. _Lately, I have been having trouble with my novel. I hope this block is only temporary. Hopefully if I relax here for a bit, I will be able to start writing again_, thought Lucy.

"Why don't you walk out onto those rocks?" suggested Freed. "I know that when I walked out there earlier, I felt much more level headed." Freed blushed._ Why the hell is he blushing?_, thought Lucy.

"That's a great idea!" exclaimed Mira. Lucy now understood what was going on. Freed and Mira were trying to get some one on one time with each other. She thought it was cute. _I wonder when Natsu and I can have time together like that?_, thought Lucy.

"Okay! I will head over there now! After I've relaxed a little, I will be heading back to the house so I will see you guys tomorrow!" said Lucy as she was walking away and waving to the shy couple. They waved good-bye in return. _It's so adorable how shy they both are_, thought Lucy.

Lucy sat on the rocks thinking about a range of things; everything from her writer's block to her feelings for Natsu, to what she overheard those customers say in The Green Dragon. _That's right_, she thought. _I have to remember to ask Erza about that soon._ She continued sitting at the edge of the jetty. The cool ocean breeze and spray of the ocean was hitting her face and blowing through her hair. She took a deep breath in of the ocean air, hoping it would clear her mind and bring rise to new ideas to write about. The sky was crystal clear and the snowy moonlight was reflecting down upon her skin. Lucy rose to her feet and sighed. _Well, nothing is coming to me. Maybe once this vacation is over I will have a ton to write about!_, thought Lucy. She decided to head back to the house and that she would try and get some sleep. It was now almost 11 pm. As she was getting off the jetty and heading back towards the direction of the house, she saw Freed and Mira sitting together at the water's edge. Mira was hugging him. Lucy smiled at the thought of how happy those two must be. _Jeez, seeing Gray and Juvia and Mira and Freed together kinda makes me feel uneasy; no that's not what this is. Anyway, I must be really tired_, she thought.

She walked back into the house to see that the only people still awake were Macao and Wakaba. They were sitting at the bar talking about what the guild was like when they were younger. Lucy could tell they were drunk. At the same time ,she noticed that Erza and Levy weren't back yet. _I hope they are okay_, she thought. As she headed upstairs, she noticed all the lights off and door closed in one bedroom and the lights off but door open in the other. One the last bedroom had the door cracked and lights on still. _Now that I think about it, which room am I going to sleep in?_, she thought. She climbed to the third floor to see the three beds all had someone occupying it and the blankets and pillows were sprawled out across the floor. Elfman, Jet, Droy, Gray, and Cana were passed out. _Well, it looks like I am sleeping on the second floor_, she thought. She went down one flight of stairs and figured that the 2 bedrooms with the doors closed and lights off were where Wendy, Carla, and Juvia were sleeping. Lucy figured that the room with the lights off and door open were where Erza and Levy were going to sleep. She entered the room and saw Erza's giant cart of luggage and Levy's small knapsack and a stack of books. _Yup, Erza's already gone and claimed this room_, Lucy said to herself. _Well, the last room appears to be mine then_.

As she entered the bedroom with the lights on, she saw Natsu flung across the bed. He was dead asleep. Lucy was embarrassed. Of all the beds and couches in the house, Natsu just happened to be in the one that Lucy had decided to sleep in as a last choice. She had no choice. She was completely exhausted and need a nice and comfy place to sleep. Normally, I freak out when Natsu is in the same bed as me, but this time it is me entering "his" bed, she thought. She shrugged and grabbed her pajamas to change into. When she came back from the bathroom, she couldn't help but blush at the thought of her and Natsu sleeping in the same bed together. She realized that she could probably go downstairs and sleep on the couch, but Macao and Wakaba were being loud so she knew she wouldn't get any sleep. Then she thought she would sleep on the third floor, but decided that sleeping next to 3 guys and a crazy drinking girl probably wasn't the best idea either. She eventually came to the conclusion that the best place to sleep, for tonight at least, was in the same bed as Natsu. She shook off her uneasy feelings and climbed into bed with the dragon slayer. She hoped Natsu wouldn't be freaked out when he woke up in the morning.

**A/N: This chapter ended up being so long, that I decided to break it up into 2 parts for an easier read. Everything will make much more sense in part 2! Thanks for reading!**

**~Aeroniel**


	4. Chapter 4: The Spell of Love and Truth-2

Chapter 3: The Spell of Love and Truth- Part Two

It was around 7 am the next day when Lucy awoke to the sunshine beginning to peek through the blinds. She felt warm and safe. As she came to her senses, she noticed that Natsu's arm was wrapped around her waist and he had pulled her close to him in the night. Her face was against his bare chest. She couldn't believe that happened. Lucy quickly pulled herself out of his grip, falling out of bed in the process. Her face was as red as Erza's hair. Natsu awoke to the sound of a thump which came from Lucy when she hit the floor.

"Huh, oh morning Luce!" said Natsu still half asleep and yawning. Lucy was speechless. She didn't know what to say. In fact, she couldn't bring herself to say thing. She was way too embarrassed.

"Oi Lucy, why are you on the floor? And are you feeling okay? Your face is really red," asked Natsu. She attempted to shake off her embarrassment before she responded to him.

"D-don't worry about it. Anyway, g-good morning, and I am feeling fine!" stuttered Lucy. She could still feel how hot her face was. She stood up off the floor and fixed her shirt which had gotten bunched up when she fell off the bed. She turned around to head out the bedroom door to go shower when she suddenly stopped in her tracks to the sound of Natsu's voice.

"Oi Lucy, were you sleeping in this bed last night? The sheets smell like you," asked Natsu. _Damn him and his beast-like sense of smell. I was hoping I would be able to walk out of here without him asking me that_, thought Lucy. She turned around to reply to Natsu.

"Uh, y-yes I was. I-I didn't have anywhere else to sleep last night since I got back late and all the other beds were taken!" exclaimed Lucy. She wasn't sure why she was shouting. She was still completely embarrassed about how she had woken up. It appeared as if Natsu didn't realize what happened, and at this Lucy was relieved. "I'm going to shower," she said as she exited the room. She left no time for Natsu to respond to her. He just laughed to himself, shrugged, and rolled over and went back to sleep.

When walking down the hall, Lucy noticed that the house was surprisingly quiet. _I guess I am the only person awake right now_, she thought. She decided now was the best time to shower because no one else was awake yet and she would be able to take her time and calm herself down a bit after what just happened with Natsu. Lucy stepped into the bathroom and turned the water on so it would get hot. She stared at herself in the mirror and pouted. _Today will be different. We will all go out and have a great time and I will forget about everything that happened in that shitty forest_, she thought as she clenched her fist in determination. Steam was beginning to emanate out from behind the shower curtain. Lucy undressed herself and stepped into the shower. She let the water run over her body for a prolonged time before she washed herself. She tilted her head back to let the hot water fall upon her face and she closed her eyes. The moment her eyes shut, she envisioned Natsu in front of her, also nude and seductively smiling at her. Lucy immediately opened her eyes in shock and stammered backwards. _Thank god it was just my imagination_, she thought. She shook that image of Natsu out of her head as she began to shampoo her hair. She closed her eyes again to prevent soap getting in them and this time another image of Natsu showed, but this one was different. She was thinking about how she had woken up in that bedroom. Her head nuzzled into Natsu's bare, muscular chest, his arm wrapped around her waist, and how warm and safe she felt. Her face began to turn a scarlet red at these thoughts. She just couldn't stop thinking about it. She was beginning to rinse the shampoo out her hair when another image of nude Natsu popped into her mind. Lucy was so surprised by the fact that her mind kept going back to that that she ended up slipping and falling out of the shower bringing the curtain down with her. _Why am I such a klutz today?_, she thought as she got up and rubbed her back. She hung up the curtain and finished up her shower while keeping the naughty thoughts about Natsu being naked at bay.

She got out of the shower and was drying off when she realized that all of her clothes were in the room that Natsu was sleeping in. _Oh jeez, I hope he is still asleep_, thought Lucy as she walked out of the bathroom and down the hall. She entered the room to find that Natsu had his back facing the door and was sound asleep. Lucy let out a sigh of relief. She grabbed her bag of clothes and when to head back to the bathroom when she noticed Freed come out of one of the bedrooms and go into the bathroom. _Oh shit_, she thought. _What do I do now? I can't keep walking around my house in this towel to find a vacant bathroom!_ As much as it pained her, she decided that she would change in the bedroom. _Natsu sleeps like a damn rock and usually doesn't wake up no matter how much noise you make. I should be fine taking just 5 minutes to change without him waking up and seeing me naked_, thought Lucy as she let the towel around her body drop to the floor.

The morning sunshine was coming through the blinds stronger than before. It made Lucy's damp skin and hair glisten with a golden-pink color. Streams of water ran down her back from her still wet blonde hair. She looked over at the alarm clock that was sitting on the nightstand. 8:15 am. She couldn't believe she was in the shower for almost a whole hour. She grabbed her light pink laced bra and watching underwear out of her bag. She figured it would be safer to put on her underwear first in case Natsu happened to wake up. She would then be able to turn her back towards him to hide her bare chest. She slipped into her underwear while watching Natsu carefully for any signs of him waking up. Nothing, not a single move from the dragon slayer. Lucy was relieved. She reached around to grab her bra, but while pulling it off of the dresser, she knocked over the lamp that was sitting on it. She was so nervous that the noise might wake Natsu that she threw her bra on fasted than she could bat an eye. Still no sound from the sleeping dragon slayer. She reached into her bag and grabbed a pair of navy blue shorts and a white and beige striped V-neck tee-shirt. She slipped one leg into her shorts, but lost her balance and fell into the dresser. She then heard rustling of the sheets. She whipped around to see that Natsu was now facing her, but he was still asleep. Lucy finished getting dressed as fast as she could and departed from the bedroom. _I'm glad he didn't wake up_, she thought.

The time was now 8:35 am. Lucy headed downstairs to the kitchen/bar area to get some breakfast. When she entered the main hall, she noticed that Happy, Carla, Wendy, Mira, Freed, and Elfman were already awake and eating. Happy was eating his fish, and Mira had made everyone else pancakes and eggs with a fresh fruit salad. Mira noticed Lucy walking in.

"Gooding morning, Lucy," said Mira with a smile. Everyone turned to see Lucy entering the hall.

"Good morning, minna!" said Lucy as she sat down at the bar. Mira then placed a plate full of the food she cooked along with a glass full of fresh squeezed orange juice in front of her. "Thanks Mira-san!" replied Lucy with a grin.

"Where were you before Lucy? We couldn't find you anywhere. Where did you sleep?" asked Wendy.

"Oh, well I got back kinda late and there weren't any beds left that were open, so I slept in bed with Natsu. I figured it was safer than sleeping near Gray or in Erza's room," said Lucy. She was trying hard to not make a big deal of it. Of course, Mira shot Lucy a wink and a devilish smile as if to say "Something better of happened." Lucy just ignored it and continued eating.

"Well, actually Erza and Levy never came back last night," said Macao while rubbing the back of his neck. Lucy hadn't even noticed that he appeared passed out on the couch with Wakaba in some wee hours of the morning. Wakaba was still dead asleep.

"What? What do you mean they never came back? They said they were going to the library. They should have come back several hours ago," said Mira. _I hope they are okay_, thought Lucy.

As if right on cue, Erza and Levy walking through the front door. They looked like their souls had been ripped out. Their hair was a tousled mess and they had pitch black bags under theirs eyes. Erza and Levy stammered into the main hall only to collapse one of the 2 couches. Lucy ran over to them immediately.

"Levy-chan, Erza, are you guys okay?! Where were you?" asked Lucy.

"We were at the library this entire time. We were researching the Forest of Truth and trying to find out why Natsu doesn't remember anything," murmured Erza. Her breathing was off and she could barely move. _What the hell_, thought Lucy. _She looks like she just fought the toughest battle of her life_.

"What? What do you mean Natsu doesn't remember anything?" asked Lucy. This was news to her ears. _So that's why he hasn't said anything about it_, she thought.

"Wait, what happened in that forest?" asked Wendy. Shit, Lucy thought. Well, there is no hiding it now I guess. She stood up from where she was kneeling near Erza and turned to everyone at the bar. She explained everything that had happened between her and Natsu while travelling through the Forest of Truth. After she finished her story, no one said anything. They all appeared as if they had seen a ghost.

"Wait, so you kissed Natsu and he held your hand?" asked Elfman. "THAT'S A MAN!" he shouted as he slammed his fists down on the bar.

Freed looked at Elfman and then a Lucy, smirked, and laughed a little. "I never would have guessed that _**our**_ Natsu would have fallen for a girl," he said.

"Yes, but it doesn't help any if he doesn't remember any of it," said Erza as she struggled to stand up. A look of gloom came over everyone's faces.

"Well, I thought that he was trying to forget about what happened. I'm sort of relieved he doesn't remember any of it," said Lucy. Even though that was the truth, she was still a little hurt by hearing this. She didn't want to have to hide her feelings for him anymore now that they have manifested.

"Did you find anything out about why this happened?" asked Mirajane.

"We did. Although, I wouldn't necessarily consider it good news," said Levy. Lucy looked at Levy with concerned eyes. "For you, Lu-chan, I will say everything we found out," she said while looking at Lucy.

"Apparently that forest has a strong spell cast upon it. It's called the Spell of Love and Truth. What this spell does is it alters the mind and heart of the people that walk in it. Although, this spell only serious affects those that are in love. Basically, it makes your mind recognize the truth of what your heart has been saying all along," said Levy.

"Well why didn't it affect me or Freed? Or you and Gray, Levy?" asked Mira.

"That's because it only affects those whose minds refuse or can't acknowledge they are in love. For the people that walk through it who either aren't in love or already know that they are, their symptoms can range anywhere from headaches to fatigue," said Levy. "But for those who walk through that don't know they are in love, it has greater side effects. For them, side effects can be anything as minor as extreme hunger to memory loss," continued Levy.

"Sadly, there was no given cure to bring back those lost memories," said Erza.

"Maybe I could try to use my healing magic on Natsu," suggested Wendy. Erza nodded.

"That was the next thing I was going to suggest," said Erza.

"Well, the only thing we can do is try it. Is Natsu awake yet Lucy?" said Mira.

"I-I'm not sure. When I fell out of bed this morning he woke up, but I think he went back to sleep," stated Lucy. Everyone sat still and digested the information they all received from Levy and Erza. Then, they all heard footsteps coming down the stairs. It was Natsu. He rubbed his eyes as he entered the main hall.

"Morning minna!" he said and he shot everyone his famous toothy grin.

"Good morning, Natsu!" replied Mira. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"Hell yeah! I'm fired up!" shouted Natsu. Everyone laughed at this dragon slayer's notorious line. Mira went back into the kitchen to make more pancakes.

"Natsu, when you are done eating, there is something we need to do," said Erza.

"What is it?" asked Natsu.

"It has to do with your lost memories," said Levy. "We might be able to bring them back using Wendy's healing magic." Natsu looked at Lucy when he heard this. She was looking the other way as if she was deep in thought_. I hate seeing her like this. I want those memories back even if it means that I find out I did something mean to Lucy. She's my friend and I can't stand seeing her so upset. I will make this up to her!_, thought Natsu.

"I'll do it as soon as breakfast is over," said Natsu.

**A/N: Oh shit! Semi-cliff hanger! What will Natsu do when he recovers his memories? I will make sure that the next chapter will explain everything better and I will post it as soon as I can! Thanks!**

**~Aeroniel**


	5. Chapter 5: The Realization

**A/N: I am soooooo sorry it took me so long to post this update guys! Exams, work, and trying to organize my thoughts, plus some writer's block delayed me more than I expected. I will try hard not to make you guys 2 weeks again! Thanks for reading and reviews are much appreciated!**

**~Aeroniel**

Chapter 5: The Realization

After Natsu finished eating breakfast, Levy, Wendy, Erza, and Lucy started to make their way toward the back of the house with Natsu following behind them. Wendy knew she would need a quiet, peaceful area that has a large enough flat surface for Natsu to lie down on. This would help to amplify her healing magic. They all went out on the back porch and continued down to the end of the dock to start the treatment. It was mid-morning and there was not a single cloud in the sky. The sun was beginning to heat up everything around them.

"Natsu, I am going to need for you to take off your shirt and scarf," said Wendy.

"Why? Don't you normally just perform the healing magic when the person is dressed?" asked Erza.

"Normally yes, but my magic can be passed more easily when there is nothing for it to pass through first, especially since I will be focusing on mainly his upper body. This will help to concentrate the magic when it needs to be the most," said Wendy.

Natsu shrugged. "Well okay, if it will help me remember I will do anything," he said as he took off his vest and scarf and handed them to Lucy.

"Why are you handing me this?" asked Lucy.

"Because you are the only other person I trust besides Happy to touch my scarf, Luce!" said Natsu with a grin. Lucy turned her head away from him as she blushed and accepted his vest and scarf into her hands.

Wendy had Natsu lie down on his back on the dock as she had Erza, Lucy, and Levy stand a few feet away from them. She activated her healing magic and started be focusing it at the crown of the head and slowly moving down to the neck and back up again. She repeated this for a few minutes before moving her hands over chest. As she started the healing of his chest, Natsu twisted his face in pain.

"Natsu, are you okay?" asked Wendy.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just that spot hurts more than the others. It kinda surprised me," said Natsu. The area that Wendy was not working on was right above and around his heart. Erza and Levy looked on at his reaction to the treatment and new that their discoveries were right. Lucy just stood there nervously watching. _I really hope he remembers. I don't want him to forget it forever_, she thought.

Wendy's healing magic continued for another 15 minutes over his chest before she had Natsu lay on his stomach so she could work the back of his head and neck. The treatment finally finished after 45 minutes had passed.

"Okay Natsu, this was the first treatment. If we need to, I can do it again," said Wendy.

"Do you remember anything yet?" asked Levy. When no response came from Natsu, the girls all looked at him closely to see that he had fallen asleep sometime during treatment. Erza sighed and got really close to his head and yelled, "Natsu!" With that, Natsu almost rolled off the dock into the ocean.

"Wah! What was that for Erza?!" shouted Natsu.

"You fell asleep during treatment and we wanted to know if you remembered anything yet," said Wendy. Natsu stood up and stretched as he looked off into the ocean. Lucy then handed him his vest and scarf.

"Hmm… Nope, I don't remember anything," said Natsu as he rubbed the back of his head while looking at his feet. He felt bad that the treatment didn't work and he was afraid it was because he had fallen asleep. _I hope this won't make Lucy more upset_, thought Natsu.

"Well, let's wait a few hours. It might take some time for any of his memories to come back," said Levy. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. As the rest of the group started to walk back towards the house, Lucy was still standing on the dock, deep in thought. Erza notice Lucy wasn't following and turned around.

"Oi Lucy, are you okay? Let's head back to the house," said Erza.

"Hmm? Oh, okay…" said Lucy as she let out a sigh.

"Don't worry Lucy; Natsu really wants to get his memories back. For your sake," said Erza. She was trying to cheer up the Celestial Spirit wizard who had begun to become depressed.

"I know, but I'm worried what he will say or do when he gets them back. What if it ruins our friendship? I know that Levy-chan said that this kind of stuff only happens to people who are in love, but what will happen if he denies his feelings after he gets his memories back?" asked Lucy.

"Well, we won't know until Natsu's memories come back. Come one, I have an idea to make you feel better. Let's hurry back to the house," said Erza as she grabbed Lucy's hand and ran towards the house.

When Erza and Lucy entered the house, they found everyone to be awake and in the main hall. Erza went over to Gray, Juvia, Levy, and Natsu and asked them if they wanted to go to the beach with her and Lucy. They all replied yes. Natsu and Gray immediately ran upstairs to put on their swim trunks. Erza then turned to Juvia and Levy.

"Lucy is a little depressed because Natsu hasn't recovered any of his memories so this will be 'Operation Make Lucy Happy', but don't say anything to the guys about it. They will just mess up the plan I have," said Erza. Both Levy and Juvia nodded.

"Juvia will help Lucy and Natsu get together so she can no longer be my love rival!" said Juvia.

"Uh Juvia, I think she stopped being your 'love rival' a long time ago," said Levy as she shook her head and chuckled a little.

"Lucy!" shouted Erza since Lucy was still in the hallway because she didn't feel like entering the main hall, "We are all going to go to the beach! Go put on you bathing suit!" continued Erza while smiling.

"Okay!" replied Lucy as she made her way up the stairs. She made her way down the hall and to the bedroom where her bag was; the same room Natsu was in, only Lucy had forgotten since she was thinking about ways to make her day better. She opened the bedroom door to see Natsu's naked ass facing her. At this sight, she was immediately torn from her thoughts. She screamed. Natsu turned around in shock.

"Oh my god Natsu, I'm so sorry! I forgot you were staying in this room!" said Lucy as she turned around to avoid seeing any 'unnecessary' things. Natsu was a little embarrassed.

"Ah! No Lucy, it's my fault for not making sure the door was locked. I'm sorry!" said Natsu. He was trying to take the blame so he wouldn't make Lucy even more upset. He threw on his board shorts and walked towards Lucy.

"Uh, I'm assuming you wanna get your bathing suit? I'll leave the room so you can change." said Natsu. Lucy turned around reluctantly to see Natsu's lower half now covered. _Thank the lord_, she thought. Her face was tainted a slight shade of pink.

"Uh yeah, thanks," said Lucy as Natsu walked out and closed the door behind him_. Stop being so depressed! You will go out and have a good time with minna and enjoy yourself_, said Lucy to herself. She looked in the mirror and slapped her cheeks to wake herself up then went over to her bag and took out and put on her favorite white and pink flower bathing suit and a pair of red shorts. She grabbed her black flip flops near her bag and ran back downstairs to meet up with everyone else. When Lucy got back downstairs, everyone was waiting for her at the back sliding door.

"Lucy! Great we are all here! Let's go enjoy the beach! Beat ya there, flame bastard!" shouted Gray while he ran out the back door.

"Not if I get there first, ice princess!" shouted Natsu as he ran after Gray.

"Gray-sama, wait for Juvia!" said Juvia as she grabbed their towel and chased after Gray. Levy, Lucy, and Erza all just stood there and laughed. They picked up their bags with the sunscreen, towels, and drinks in them and made their way down to the beach.

When Erza, Levy, and Lucy arrived to where Natsu, Gray, and Juvia were, they saw a sight that was all too familiar. Natsu and Gray were chasing each other trying to fight and Juvia was chasing after Gray yelling at him to look at her in her kawaii bathing suit. The three girls just watched in amazement.

"They never seem to change, do they?" questioned Levy as she giggled.

"If they did, our guild wouldn't be the same," laughed Lucy. Erza and Levy were both glad to see that Lucy was already laughing.

"Get back here you snowy bastard!" shouted Natsu.

"Haha catch me if ya can ash for brains!" said Gray as he kept running in circles hoping to make Natsu dizzy and hopefully become motion sick. Natsu got so mad that he finally used magic.

"Karyū no Hōkō!" yelled Natsu while spewing fire from his mouth at Gray. Gray barely got out of the way in time by jumping to the side. This turned the sad he was standing on to glass.

"Watch where you throw that fire, Natsu!" yelled Gray. Natsu just laughed.

Erza had finally had enough of the Ice Maker magic user and Dragon Slayer magic user chasing each other so she re equipped one of her swords and when they passed her while running, she stabbed the sword into the sand in between them. Both Natsu and Gray jumped back from being surprised. Levy and Lucy both laughed.

"Knock it off you two! We are on a mission to enjoy this beach!" said Erza.

"Aye sir!" replied Natsu and Gray in unison as they laid out their towels.

While everyone was setting up their stuff, a group of 4 local guys from Cerulean made their way over after hearing all the ruckus that Erza, Gray, and Natsu had created.

"Oh my god, guys look! Fairy Tail Wizards! And even better, hot babes from Fairy Tail!" said one of them in reference to Juvia, Lucy, Levy, and Erza. "Look its Titania and Lucy from Team Natsu!"

One of the men walks up to Juvia and said, "Hey, you're Juvia right? How would you like to come and help me learn some of that water magic you use? I'd love for ya to show me the ropes baby." Juvia blushed and couldn't think of a reply. The local beach goer grabbed ahold of her hand and started to walk away. Gray had overheard what he had said to Juvia.

"Oi you, what do you think you are doing with my guild member?!" said Gray as he walked towards Juvia and the guy that was holding her hand. All Juvia could utter out was "Gray-sama."

"Oi loser, she don't look like she's havin' much fun with ya so I figured I could show 'er a good time if ya know what I mean," said the local punk. At this, Gray's blood started to boil.

"What did ya say about showing her a good time?" questioned Gray. Before the local could respond, Gray had frozen him in an ice cube. He picked up Juvia and carried her toward the ocean and said, "Come on Juvia, let's go swim together."

The three other men were gathered around Erza, Levy, and Lucy and were completely unaware of what had happened to their comrade. They kept throwing out compliments to Erza left and right. She gladly accepts all the flattery. Then, she overheard one of the guys suggest that Lucy and Levy go back with the three of them to their place in town. Erza became infuriated.

"Kansō," said Erza as she equips herself with her katana. She turns to the three remaining men and says, "You will now pay for trying to run off with our guild's girls and ruining our beach day!" As she says this, Erza chases the three guys down the beach while swinging her katana. Juvia and Lucy just sigh and laugh as they go back to laying out their towels and applying sunscreen.

Throughout the day at the beach, the group had several chicken fights in the water; Natsu and Lucy vs. Erza and Levy, Gray and Juvia vs. Natsu and Erza, Lucy and Levy vs. Natsu and Gray. Each time, whoever was partnered with Natsu or Erza won, naturally. Erza would occasionally force Gray and Natsu to reapply sunscreen to the girls while they made faces about doing it. Later in the day, Natsu and Gray would also take turns launching the girls into the ocean with magic. Of course, Juvia wouldn't let Lucy anywhere near Gray and Lucy was completely okay with that._ Despite how the day started off, I am having a lot of fun! I'm glad we all decided to go to the beach_, thought Lucy. The time was 5:30 pm when Erza suggested to everyone that they start heading back to the house since it was getting late. They packed up all their stuff and made their way back towards the house.

"Man, today was a lot of fun! Although, I am just realizing now how hungry I am!" said Natsu while walking with his hands behind his head.

"Oi Natsu, have you remembered anything yet?" asked Levy while whispering in Natsu's ear. She was trying to stay quiet so Lucy wouldn't hear. Natsu let out a sigh as he turned to reply to her.

"Sadly, no. I hope something will come to me soon though," he said to Levy.

While walking back to the house, Lucy remembered the conversation she had heard back in the pub a few days ago. She decided she would ask Erza about it now.

"Oi Erza, the night that Natsu, Happy, and I arrived here in Cerulean, we went to that pub for dinner and I happened to overhear a conversation that kind of concerned me," said Lucy.

"Oh really? What was said?" asked a curious Erza.

"Well I couldn't make out the full conversation, but the three words I hear were 'attack', 'wizards', and '3 days', but I know it doesn't mean much since I couldn't hear everything that was said. I'm assuming though that we are the only wizard guild visiting this town right now and I know Cerulean doesn't have a guild of their own. I just thought I would mention it to you," explained Lucy.

"Hmm, well that is a little unnerving. I will mention it to Freed and Elfman tomorrow and we will go and check it out. Thanks for the info!" said Erza.

Once the group arrived back to the house, Mira had already prepared a dinner feast for everyone. There was steak, mashed potatoes, salad, grilled chicken, roasted green beans, and a bunch of other foods as we as some desserts that Mira and Elfman had bought while they were in town today. Erza saw the strawberry cream cake and decided she would claim it as hers and if anyone were to touch it, they would lose a limb. Everyone else laughed as they agreed to stay far away from the strawberry cake.

"Dig in, minna! The food in this town is delicious!" said Mira. With that, everyone grabbed a plate and filled it and then went to find somewhere to sit and enjoy their meal and dessert.

After everyone had eaten their fill, they all relaxed a little while in the main hall drinking and chatting and just enjoying the time they had off.

"Boy, this vacation was a _–hic–_ great idea!" stuttered Cana. Everyone agreed with her. Cana was way past drunk due to the fact that she started drinking at around noon time. It was now almost 9 pm.

Little by little, some of the guild members headed upstairs for bed. First Wendy and Carla, followed by Freed, who is a total lightweight and can't handle his liquor. Laxus would be ashamed. Mira eventually followed Freed after she had cleaned up the bar area. Juvia and Gray were a little drunk and ended up sleeping in the same bed. _Oh jeez, she's gonna have a heart attack when she walks up_, though Lucy as she watched Juvia and Gray head to bed together. Macao and Wakaba were rambling on about god knows what. To Lucy, their words sounded like chicken squawks. _Jeez they are soooo drunk_, she thought as she laughed to herself. Elfman and Erza were still chatting at the bar and Happy was passed out on the bar top. Lucy then noticed that Levy was missing and then realized she must have gone to bed a little while ago. She was just beginning to realize how tired she really was. Being out in the sun all day had drained almost all of her energy. She couldn't wait to hit the pillow and be embraced in the warmth of the blankets.

When Lucy looked at the clock, she noticed it was now past 10:30 pm. She decided it was time for her to sleep and she made her way upstairs trying not to fall sleep in the process. When she got to the bedroom, she remembered that Natsu sleeps in that bed. _Well, I am way too tired to try to find another bed. I will just ask him if I can sleep here again tonight and even if he says no, I will still sleep here. He's always sleeping in my bed back home anyway_, Lucy thought to herself. She walked in the bedroom to find Natsu sitting on the bed looking out the window. He appeared to be thinking about something.

"Knock, knock," Lucy said with a smile. Natsu turned around.

"Oh, hiya Luce! What are you doing in here?" asked Natsu.

"Well, I'm really tired and I don't want to have to find another bed to sleep in so I was wondering if it would be okay if I slept here with you again tonight," said Lucy as she yawned.

"Yeah, that's no problem! You shouldn't even have to ask!" said Natsu. "I'm always sleeping in your bed anyway," he joked. With that Lucy went to the bathroom and washed her face and changed into her pajamas and when she came back into the room, Natsu was already asleep. She climbed in bed and lied down next to him. Soon enough, sleep quickly came and took her off until morning.

2 am. That was the time when Natsu woke up abruptly. He immediately sat up in bed. Lucy was sound asleep next to him. He looked down on her and smiled. Just when he was about to lay back down, he got a splitting headache. Images of what happened in the Forest of Truth started to emerge back into his conscious thoughts. He could remember _**everything**_. He couldn't believe he flirted with her and that he was so nervous. Let alone the fact that Lucy had kissed him and also the way he felt when he was carrying Lucy on his back and when he had to touch her bare thighs. He face began to flush a deep color of red. Even darker than Erza's hair. _What does this mean? Why did I act like that when we entered the forest? And why did I forget it all when we left?! Do I like Lucy? No, there's no way I could have feelings for her. I mean, yeah she's gorgeous and an amazing girl, but we could never have a relationship. It would be too weird_, Natsu thought to himself. _How is she going to react when she learns I remember it all? Will she still be upset? Or even worse, angry? Maybe I just won't say anything to her right away_, he thought. He shook his head in attempt to clear his mind and let his head hit the pillow once more and again drifted off into sleep until morning.


	6. Chapter 6: Surprised, Shocked, and Shy

**A/N: I am a terrible liar. I said I wouldn't make you wait more than 2 weeks and I did. I'M SO SORRY. Anyway, first thing- it you have not heard the song Hot Summer by FX (it's a Japanese song); I suggest you do so before reading this chapter. Search on YouTube – 'f(x) - Hot Summer (Japanese Ver.)' and click the first video or just read the lyrics on Google. Secondly, since I am currently on spring break, this story will get another update before Monday. Enjoy!**

Chapter 6: Surprised, Shocked, and Shy

The next morning, Natsu was the first to drift out of the slumbers that were grasping his conscious. As he opened his eyes, he noticed that Lucy's head was resting on his chest and she had her arm lying on his stomach. Natsu immediately began to blush. _What a way to start the day_, he thought. Natsu carefully lifted Lucy's head and placed it on the pillow, as to not wake her. He then sat up in bed and stretched. As he turned and looked out the window, visions of what he had remembered had re-entered his mind. He still couldn't believe it. It didn't matter though because he now knew that he was feeling something towards Lucy that wasn't there before.

After lying in bed and looking out the window for a little while, he got up and headed towards the bathroom so he could shower and get ready for the day. When he entered the bathroom, he turned on the lights and looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was more spiky than usual. Natsu turned on the water and undressed himself. Within 30 seconds, the bathroom was already super steamy, seeing how Natsu only showers in almost pure hot water with no cold water. As he stepped into the shower and began shampooing his hair, he began to think about Lucy and his newly found memories. He wasn't sure how to tell her, let alone _**if**_ he was going to tell her. He was still completely dumbfounded that he didn't even remember anything at first. He was rinsing the shampoo out of his hair when he thought of something. _Well, does this mean that I wanna date Lucy? I mean I know I feel something towards her that I didn't before and that's gotta mean that I must really like her. But I don't understand her. Does she like me back? Jeez, I'm no good with this feelings stuff. I guess I'll ask someone later about them. Erza? No. Gray will just laugh at me and Elfman will tell me to be a man. I could ask Mira, she'd probably be the best choice_. He decided that when he could be alone with Mira, he would ask her what he should do.

He turned off the water and got out of the shower and dried himself off. He wrapped the towel around his waist and started to head back towards the bedroom so he could get dressed. As he left the bathroom, Gray was coming up the stairs. Natsu was still thinking about everything and didn't see Gray until it was too late. They walked straight into each other.

"Hey fire face, watch where you're going!" shouted Gray.

"Eh, hush up you ice bastard," grumbled Natsu as he kept walking.

"Whatever. Where's Lucy? Is she awake yet?" asked Gray. Natsu stopped and turned to face Gray.

"Uh, I think she is still sleeping. Why?" asked Natsu.

"Well wake her up! Mira, Levy and Juvia are waiting for her downstairs. They said something about a girls' day," said Gray.

"Ah okay. I'll wake her up," said Natsu as he walked back into the bedroom and shut the door behind him. Gray headed back downstairs to tell the girls that Lucy would be down soon.

Natsu went over to the bed and stared at Lucy. Hair was hiding half of her face. He took his hand and softly brushed the hair back so he could see her face. _Gosh she's so beautiful_, thought Natsu. He shook Lucy's shoulders lightly to try and wake her. All Lucy did was grumble and rolled over. _Jeez she's sleeping like a rock today_, laughed Natsu to himself.

Natsu again took Lucy by the shoulders and shook her gently while whispering in her ear as sweetly as he could, "Good morning Luce." When Lucy heard Natsu's voice and felt his breath against her ear like that, she woke up and rolled over to face him.

"Good morning Natsu!" said Lucy, yawning half way through. She then sat up, stretched and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"Gray wanted me to tell you that Mira, Levy and Juvia are downstairs waiting and they wanna have a girls day or something with you," said Natsu as Lucy was making the bed.

"Oh, really? Okay! Thanks for telling me Natsu," said Lucy as she turned around to face Natsu. At that moment, she realized Natsu was only wearing a towel and he had trails of water running down his muscular body from his wet pink hair. Lucy whipped her body around to hide her crimson cheeks and struggled to say "Natsu, get dressed would ya?" Natsu then looked down at himself.

"Oh, right!" nervously laughed Natsu. He was a little embarrassed that he was still only in a towel.

"Anyway, I'm going to shower and then head downstairs," said Lucy as she grabbed her change of clothes and made her way towards the bathroom as she closed the door behind her. Natsu stood staring at the door while thinking about him and Lucy in the shower together before he shook those thoughts away and got dressed.

Everyone was awake and moving throughout the house when Lucy finally made her way into the main hall. Gray and Juvia were enjoying a breakfast together that Juvia had made, Wendy and Carla were snacking on some fruits while sitting on the couch, and Mira was behind the bar as always serving Cana, Freed, Levy, Macao, and Natsu. Lucy made her way over to the bar and grabbed some cereal and then sat down next to Natsu.

"Morning Lucy!" said Mirajane in her usual cheery voice.

"Good morning minna!" said Lucy with a brighter-than-usual smile upon her face as she took her seat.

"You seem happier today compared to yesterday, Lu-chan," said Levy.

"Yeah, I am. I slept pretty well last night and I feel a lot better, too!" said Lucy. Natsu blushed slightly at the fact that he knew why Lucy had slept so well last night since he woke up to her practically spooning him.

"Well that's good. I'm glad to hear it." said Freed. He had heard about the emotional fiasco that took place the day prior from Mira while they were lying in bed last night. After looking around the room, Natsu and Lucy both noticed that Erza and Elfman were not there.

"Where's Erza and Elfman?" asked Lucy.

"Oh, Elf-nii and Erza left about an hour ago to go and check out those things you heard some townspeople say the other day," said Mira as she was cleaning a glass.

"Oh okay! I guess we will see them tonight then," stated Lucy. The rest of the guild members finished their meals and morning conversations before going about their business for the day.

XxXxX

"Oi Lu-chan, are you ready to leave?" shouted Levy down the hall.

"Yeah! I'm coming now!" replied Lucy as she ran towards the front door to where Mira, Levy, and Juvia were standing. As soon as Lucy reached them, they all departed the house and headed towards the town to do some shopping.

"… So we will go to the boutique that sells the little beach themed knick-knacks and then we can do some clothes shopping for new bathing suits!" said Mira to the group.

"That's a great idea! Juvia thinks we should get a little knick-knack for each of the girl guild members!" stated an ecstatic Juvia.

"What do you think each girl will like, Lu-chan?" asked Levy, although Lucy didn't hear the question. Her mind was busy elsewhere.

"…_**Hot summer. Ah, hot, hot summer. Hot summer. Ah, hot, hot Kore Koso. Hot summer. Ah, hot, hot summer. Hot summer. Ah, hot, hot Nat-Suda Wa**_!" sung Lucy quietly to herself while bobbing her head back and forth slightly. The three other female wizards she was with just stood staring at Lucy as she continued walking and singing to herself. Lucy ended up a few feet in front of them before she realized that they weren't walking with her anymore. She turned around to see what was up.

"Oh dear Mavis, Lucy! Were you just singing about how Natsu is hot like summer?!" exclaimed Mira with a surprised look on her face. Her hands then flew up to her mouth as if to say _–gasp–_. She was teasing Lucy.

"What? No! Oh jeez no! It's a song! A song that I heard on the radio when I was in the shower this morning!" shouted Lucy while waving her hands in front of her in an attempt to reaffirm her answer, though it wasn't very believable.

"Oh come on Lu-chan! You totally were!" said Levy while giggling like a school girl.

"Oh Lucy! Juvia is so happy you are no longer her love rival! This makes Juvia even happier!" said a smiling Juvia.

"Guys, no! I swear it's just a song! It was really catchy and got stuck in my head this morning. I've been humming it to myself all day!" said a now flustered Lucy.

"Oh Lu-chan, you don't have to be shy around us! We're your friends, plus we already know how you feel about Natsu," said Levy while winking at Lucy. Mira and Juvia were giggling in the background.

"Oh Levy-chan! Mira-san, Juvia! No, no, NO! I mean, yeah, I guess I sort of thing Natsu is hot…" Lucy's face began to turn a bright red and she thought about Natsu and his muscular body and silly personality, "But I swear I wasn't singing about him!"

"Okay Lucy! We believe you," smirked Mira who was being extremely sarcastic.

"Ugh, I'll just play the song for you guys when we get back," said Lucy as she stormed off, still flustered. Levy, Juvia and Mirajane followed her still amused about what had just happened.

It was around 1 pm when Levy, Mira, Juvia, and Lucy returned from their trip into town. Each girl returned with a large bag full of a few knick-knacks and lots of clothes. Juvia had bought some new lingerie to show off to Gray, Mira bought a knick-knack for most of the guild members, male and female since she couldn't just get some for the girls without getting some for the guys, and Levy bought some cute baby's clothes to dress up Panther Lily in if Gajeel lets her. Lucy only bought two items. A new bathing suit and one knick-knack. When they all entered the house, each girl headed towards their rooms to put away the stuff the just bought. Lucy was the last person to get downstairs and she noticed that Mira, Natsu, and Wendy appeared to be in a heavy conversation. Natsu looked over at Lucy and signaled her to come to him.

"What are we talking about, guys?" asked Lucy.

"We were gonna see if you wanted to come with us to the beach," said Wendy.

"Sure! I'd love to go! That's why we're here, isn't it?" chuckled Lucy as she replied. "I'll go upstairs and put on my new bathing suit I just bought!" Natsu blushed at that statement. _I don't know why, but seeing her in something new kind of excites me_, thought Natsu as he tried to imagine what the bathing suit looked like and how Lucy looked in it.

"We'll go put on our bathing suits, too!" said Mira and Wendy in unison. Natsu was already in his bathing suit since that's what he put on once he got out of the shower.

When the girls returned back downstairs, Mirajane was wearing a neon blue bikini with a halter top, Wendy was wearing a yellow and green polka dot one piece, and Lucy was wearing a bright red bikini that was strapless. Red. As in Natsu's favorite color, red. _Holy shit_, thought Natsu. _She's wears red damn fucking good_. After thinking that, Natsu immediately turned his face away. He knew his face must have been as bright as the sun. Lucy then walked up to Natsu.

"How do I look?" she asked, blushing slightly.

"Uh, y-you look great," said Natsu while rubbing the back of his neck and giving Lucy a half nervous smile. _Act cool_, he thought to himself. Lucy smiled cheerfully at Natsu's approval of her new bathing suit.

The group grabbed some towels out of the closet as well as some snacks and water bottles and threw everything into a large canvas bag and made their way out the back sliding door towards the beach. While walking, they immersed themselves in silly conversation. Mira was still teasing Lucy about the "song", of course Natsu and Wendy had no clue what they were talking about. Natsu and Wendy were discussing their dragon slaying magic and Natsu was giving Wendy some tips on how to control her magic when she gets sick or if her emotions or hormones get out of whack. Then Wendy became curious about something.

"Oi Natsu, did your memory ever come back?" asked Wendy. Mira and Lucy stopped their conversation when they heard this question. Natsu immediately became nervous. _What do I say? I know I said I would ask Mira what I should do, but I haven't had the chance yet. I don't wanna lie, but I don't know what to say! Shit, I should of thought about this more_, thought Natsu while mentally slapping himself. He scrambled to come up with a response.

"Uh, n-no. It still hasn't c-come back yet," stuttered Natsu as he started to become fidgety with his hands and darting his eyes all over. He was praying none of them would realize he was lying.

"Oh really? Well then let's do another healing session when we get back to the house," urged Wendy.

"Uh, yeah sure," replied a reluctant Natsu. After that brief conversation, Natsu and Wendy and Lucy and Mira went back to their previous conversations until they reached a decent part of the beach to set up at.

The group spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach enjoying the warm summer rays. Lucy, Mira, and Wendy swam around together peacefully until Natsu decided to pretend to be a shark and scare the three girls half to death. Wendy and Lucy buried Natsu in the sand and made him different sand sculpture bodies. A mermaid, a starfish, and a jellyfish were just some of the creations they made. Natsu even ended up falling asleep on the sand and ended up getting a sunburnt back. It was a little after dusk when they began to make their way back to the beach house.

"Once we get back, we should do the treatment right away," said Wendy. Lucy and Mira both agreed. Natsu just nodded his head.

When they all got back to the house, they sat down at the bar and ate a dinner that Freed had cooked for them. Then Wendy and Natsu went out on the back porch to start the second treatment. Wendy had Natsu take off his clothes again and had him lie on his back. She started treatment at the base of the head and moved her way around his chest and head. She noticed that something was a little funny.

"Oi Natsu, this is strange. I don't feel the same tension that I did yesterday. In fact, I feel almost no tension at all. It's kind of surprising. There should still be some tension in those spots," said a confused Wendy. Natsu turned his face away from hers.

"Hmm, I wonder why…" said Natsu as his voice trailed off. Treatment continues for about another 45 minutes before they both went back inside to join everyone else.

When they entered the house, Erza and Elfman where back from their journey through town investigating. Natsu and Wendy walking in in the middle of them explaining what they found out.

"Oh Natsu, Wendy, there you guys are! You are gonna want to hear this too," said Elfman as Erza continued explaining.

"As I was saying, Elfman and I went all over town and looked into the words "attack", "3 days", and "wizards" that Lucy had heard in the pub. It turns out that there is a group of townspeople who go throughout the town around this time every year and try to recruit wizards for help with a beach festival," explained Erza.

"What's the festival called?" ask Wakaba.

"It's called Attack on Tourist. Apparently around this time each year, many wizard guilds all across Fiore come to vacation here. The locals took notice to this and decided to create a festival for those wizards to participate in. As Elfman and I were asking around about it, we ended being asked several times if we would join. I eventually told them yes. I also took the liberty of signing some of us up for the event, too. I don't have any information on what kind of festival it is, but we will find out more when the group that is participating meets with the event coordinator," said Erza.

"Who will be participating?" asked Freed.

"I've entered Cana because apparently there is a drinking contest each year, Natsu, Gray, myself, Lucy, and Levy," answered Erza. Everyone looked utterly surprised and excited at the news. Lucy was just relived that it didn't turn out to be anything dangerous.

The guild members continued to discuss all of the day's events as they all sat out on the back deck drinking, listening to music, dancing, and enjoying the beautiful summer night and each other's company. It was approaching the wee hours of the morning when Natsu, Lucy, Erza, and Mira decided to head to bed. As the all made their way upstairs, they split up and went into their own bedrooms. Lucy didn't even bother asking Natsu if she could sleep with him again. In fact, he invited her. She was a little surprised by that. Lucy went into the bathroom to change and wash her face and brush her teeth, and then Natsu went in to do the same once Lucy came back to the bedroom. When Natsu came back, Lucy was already in bed and asleep. He crawled into the bed next to her gently so he wouldn't wake her up. He could tell how tired she was.

Before Natsu put his head on the pillow, he whispered to Lucy, "I promise I will tell you everything tomorrow. Good night beautiful." As soon as his body relaxed, he drifted off into a sweet sleep.


	7. Chapter 7: Confessions and Frustration

Chapter 7: Confessions and Frustration

The next morning, Lucy woke to the muffled sounds of people moving about downstairs. She was surprised to hear people awake so early. When Lucy rolled over, she noticed that Natsu was still dead asleep next to her. She smiled at the fact that he always looked so peaceful when he slept. She climbed out of bed and decided that she would take a shower before Natsu woke up. Lucy was in a good mood especially because Natsu had invited her to sleep next to him the night before. As she was turning on the water in the shower and undressing herself, she realized something. _I don't care if he doesn't get his memory back. I know how I feel for him and that these feelings won't go away and that's all that matters. And knowing how he acted in the forest means something, right? This means that maybe it will happen again and this time he won't forget because of some stupid spell, thought Lucy as she showered._ She was just happy to be with Natsu all the time.

While Lucy is in the shower, Natsu finally wakes up and realizes that Lucy isn't there. As he sits up in bed he notices that it is kind of loud downstairs. _I wonder if she already went downstairs for breakfast_, thought Natsu. He stretched and got out of bed and decided he was going to shower before he joined everyone else. As he gets up and walks down the hall, he hears the water running in the bathroom. As Natsu approaches the door, he notices that someone is singing and of all people, it is Lucy singing in the shower.

"_**Be the good girl you always have to be. Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know**_… _**It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small, and the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all**_…" sang Lucy while in the shower. _I've never heard Luce sing before. Her voice is gorgeous_, thought Natsu as he blushed slightly. "…_**Let it go, let it go. You'll never see me cry**_!... _**I'm never going back, the past is in the past**_… _**Let it go, let it go, that perfect girl is gone**_..." continued Lucy as Natsu listened. Natsu was completely taken back by the lyrics and the feeling that Lucy was putting behind them. _I'm going to tell her today. I __**will**__ tell her that I remember everything. I don't care if she gets angry or upset. I want her to know how I feel_, thought Natsu. As Natsu thought this, he turned around from where he was standing in the hallway and walked back towards the bedroom. For the next 15 minutes, Natsu paced the room back and forth trying to figure out what he was going to say to Lucy and when he was going to say it.

"I still kinda want to talk to Mira about this so I could tell her tonight, but what if I chicken out? I've never felt this before. I don't know how to act! Dammit! This shit is hard to figure out! Maybe I should just tell her when she gets out of the shower? No, I have no clue what to say yet!" shouted Natsu as he pulled his hair in frustration. _I need to think of something soon before Luce comes back_, thought Natsu.

_Maybe I will tell him that it's okay if he doesn't remember anything and that I'm won't be upset if he never remembers_, thought Lucy as she climbed out of the shower and started to dry herself off. She wraps the towel around her body and walks out of the bathroom and down the hall. _I wonder if Natsu is awake_, thought Lucy as she opened the bedroom door. When the door was fully open, she saw Natsu, who was fully awake and sitting on the edge of the bed staring at her.

"Oi Luce, I need to talk to you about something," said Natsu in a semi-serious tone. _It's now or never_.

"C-can it wait? I would like to get dressed first," said a very embarrassed Lucy as she let out a sigh. She wasn't sure if she would ever get used to Natsu seeing her in only a towel.

"Not really, it's important," responded Natsu. Lucy was taken back a little by how serious Natsu seemed to be.

"Uh, okay fine I guess," said Lucy trying to get over her embarrassment. "What did you need to talk to me about?"

Natsu just stared at her, not able to utter a single word from his lips. Lucy was only wearing a towel, and for some reason that made Natsu a little nervous. The way her skin was just wet enough that it made her whole body glisten, the way the ends of her hair were releasing droplets of water down her neck line and arms. He really liked it when Lucy wore her hair down, and this time was no different. Her hair was down and damp and he could smell the perfume from the shampoo she used while in the shower. That damn dragon sense of smell always made things worse especially now. All Natsu wanted to do was just walk up to Lucy and hold her in his arms while breathing in her scent. It was unique and that's why he liked it so much. He had never smelled anything like it before. He was still daydreaming when he noticed that Lucy was now looking at him with a concerned look upon her face.

"Natsu, are you okay?" she asked.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, sorry. I just spaced out a little there," said Natsu.

"Weirdo," replied Lucy followed by a small chuckle. The tension in the air surrounding Natsu dissipated after hearing Lucy laugh.

"Anyway, what was so important to talk to me about that I still can't get dressed yet?" asked Lucy again, only this time a little more curious and a little more impatient.

"Luce, my memories came back yesterday. All of them," said Natsu. Lucy just looked at Natsu completely dumbfounded. She didn't know what to say. After a few minutes of silence, she finally responded.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner, Natsu?" asked a confused Lucy.

"I didn't want to say anything right away because I wasn't sure how you would react honestly. I thought you might be angry or upset or something because of how I acted and because of how you were acting the other day when you found out I didn't remember anything about what happened between us in that forest," stated Natsu as he averted his eyes from Lucy. Lucy started the close the distance between them before speaking.

"Natsu, I'm not mad or upset or anything like that. Yeah, I was a little hurt when I heard that you didn't remember what happened in the forest and I was a little confused as to why you acted differently once we entered the town, but never once was I angry. And well… all that time in between gave me time to think about some things, and well, I mean, I'm just happy," said Lucy. Natsu just looked at her slightly confused as to where she was going with this. As if picking up on Natsu's confusion, Lucy continued. _I knew he wouldn't be able to understand it like this_, she thought to herself before speaking.

"I am happy because I realized that it doesn't matter if I am the only one that feels like this. All that matters is that I am happy just being with you, Natsu. I guess I've felt like this for a while now and everyone else seemed to pick up on it except me and this event in the forest finally made me realize it. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I like you, a lot in fact. And also that I'm okay if my feelings aren't met because like I said, all that matters is that I am with you," said Lucy. When she finally finished talking, she noticed that her breath was irregular and her heart beat increase. She was beyond nervous or embarrassed at this point. She just confessed to Natsu and she couldn't believe she said that all even though she wanted to stop herself several times, but her mouth kept moving and her heart came pouring out in the form of her voice. Natsu was staring at Lucy until their eyes met and they both quickly looked the other way. Lucy's faces was steaming red. Natsu still hadn't said anything and now she was beginning to regret what she had said.

Before she knew it, Natsu had stood up and started walking towards her. Natsu's body was completely moving on its own now. Natsu stopped just a few inches from her and was staring straight into her eyes. Lucy immediately tried to avert her gaze elsewhere, but before she could Natsu had pressed his lips against hers. At this, Lucy finally snapped back to reality. Natsu was kissing her _**and**_ she was letting it happen. She was completely taken back by the fact that Natsu was kissing her, but it wasn't just some stupid peck. This was a full blown lover's kiss. Or at least that's what Lucy though it was based on the novels she had read before. This was her first kiss, and a passionate one at that. Lucy was still in shocked until she realized that Natsu had somehow managed to push her back to the wall. It was then that Lucy started to kiss him back.

Natsu puts one hand against the wall to support himself while taking his other hand and intertwining it with Lucy's. They continued to kiss until Lucy felt something warm and wet against her lips. It was Natsu's tongue looking for entrance which Lucy graciously allowed. Lucy let Natsu's tongue explore her mouth before she fought her way in to explore his. Lucy wrapped her arms around Natsu's waist and pulled him closer to her. With this motion, Lucy's towel fell off of her body and onto the floor. Natsu then moved his arm that was against the wall and wrapped it around Lucy's waist and grabbed ahold of her bare hip. Lucy doesn't even notice that her towel has fallen off her body, and honestly she couldn't really give a damn. All she wanted was more of this from Natsu. They continue making out with Natsu's arms wrapped around Lucy completely and Lucy's arms wrapped around Natsu's neck with her fingers running through Natsu's hair. They continue like that for a few minutes until they hear a knock at the door. It was Gray.

"Oi flame brain! You awake?!" exclaimed Gray and he banged on the door. Natsu and Lucy were startled but the sudden banging and broke apart.

"What the hell do you want, ice princess?!" shouted back Natsu. He was even more aggravated than usual.

"Erza wanted me to wake you and Lucy up! We are going to meet that event coordinator today, dumbass!" shouted Gray.

"Alright, I get it! We will be down soon!" yelled Natsu.

"Fine, I'll let Erza know," said Gray as he started to head back downstairs.

Once it was finally quiet again, Lucy notices that the towel that was once covering her is now laying at her feet. At this, the fact that she was now completely naked in front of Natsu after just making out with him, made her shriek. She immediately kneeled down in an attempt to cover herself a little. Her face looked as if all her blood and flowed into her cheeks. If she wasn't ever this embarrassed before, she sure was now. She shut her eyes in an attempt to calm herself down, but it failed. When she had opened her eyes again, she notice that Natsu was crotched down in front of her and was handing her the towel while covering his eyes with his other hand. Lucy reached out her hand and grazed Natsu's hand before finally taking the towel from him and wrapping it around her body.

"T-t-thank you Natsu," said Lucy.

"N-no p-problem Luce!" said Natsu shooting Lucy his famous grin. "Can I open my eyes now?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm covered now," said Lucy, her cheeks still tainted pink. When Natsu heard that, he removed his hand and opened his eyes.

"Well, uh, I'm gonna go shower and let you get dressed now. I'll meet you downstairs," said Natsu as he quickly exited the bedroom. Lucy just stood staring at the door for a bit before she finally stood up and got dressed. She still couldn't believe her and Natsu had shared such an intimate kiss. Once she was dressed and her hair was in its usual style, she headed downstairs towards the main hall.

While Natsu was in the shower, he couldn't stop thinking about what he had just done. How his body moved on its own towards Lucy and how his lips crashed into hers. More so, he couldn't believe that Lucy actually returned the kiss. _I mean yeah she said she likes me, but what does this mean for our friendship now? I mean I feel the same way, but I don't know what I should do_, thought Natsu as he was drying off and exiting the bathroom. He headed into the bedroom, got dressed and went downstairs to meet up with everyone else. When he got downstairs, Lucy was drinking tea and Erza, Cana, Gray, and Levy were in a group talking about the festival. Both Natsu and Lucy joined the group at the same time.

"Okay, so are we all here?" asked Erza as she checked the group to make sure everyone was present. "Okay, good! Let's go and meet the event coordinator. He said he would be in the town hall this morning." With that, the group set off towards town hall to meet the coordinator and find out what kind of festival "Attack on Tourist" actually is.

When they arrived at the town hall, Levy went up to the front desk and told them that they were the group from Fairy Tail who would be participating in the festival and that they were there to meet the event coordinator to discuss it. The receptionist lady said that the coordinator would be down shortly to meet with them. About 7 minutes had passed before the coordinator actually came down.

"I'm sorry for making you wait, minna," said the event coordinator apologetically. "My name is Kirito and I am the assistant mayor for the town of Cerulean. Let's go into my office and discuss this." The group of wizards followed the assistant mayor up two flights of stairs before walking down a long hallway and into Mr. Kirito's office. Erza handled most of the questions that Mr. Kirito had asked them and she also asked most of the questions about the festival.

"The Attack on Tourist festival goes all day and starts at 8 am in 2 days from now. It ends when all the games are over with usually happens around 10 or 11 pm," stated Kirito.

"What kind of games are there in the festival?" asked Erza.

"Well each year, as per popular demand, we hold a drinking contest sometime during the course of the festival, but as for the other games, they are voted upon each year by the townspeople and whichever 5 games get the most votes are the ones that take place. But we don't get all the votes in until the night before the festival so you won't be able to know what the games are until the day of the festival," said Kirito. Cana smirked at words "drinking game" she was happy that she was in the festival now. The group continues the conversation with Kirito for about another hour before leaving to head back to the beach house.

"I'm fired up now!" shouts Natsu as the group walks out the door.

"Are you sure about this, Kirito-san? You've also heard of the destructive power of Fairy Tail before," states the secretary to Kirito.

"Yes, but they will make this year's festival much more entertaining," replies Kirito before heading back upstairs to his office to finish up the paperwork for the festival and games.

It was around 8 pm when the group got back to the house. They had decided to stop for dinner in the town and go for a stroll before heading back home. The group enters the house to find it in complete disarray. Everyone was drinking and playing dancing games and be loud like usual.

"It really feels like home now," said Lucy, Erza, and Levy in unison as they laughed. Gray and Cana ran off towards the rest of the guild members to join in their fun.

"Welcome back!" said Mira as she walked towards the remaining members of the group.

"Oi Natsu! Get your ass over here!" shouted Gray. Natsu went over to see what Gray was yelling about with Elfman and Macao. Both Lucy and Natsu were absorbed in conversation with their friends for some time.

"I think I am going to head upstairs and lay in bed a bit. I'm tired and I really want to work on my book. I've got some good stuff to write about now," said Lucy. Natsu had overheard this statement.

"Oi Luce, I'll join ya!" shouted Natsu from across the room. Lucy nodded in agreement.

"Oi Lucy, I hear you and Natsu are sleeping in the same bed now," teased Mira. Lucy began to get flustered.

"Well, uh yea. I mean he's always sleeping in my bed back in Magnolia so I figured it would only be fair," stated Lucy.

"You know, you two should totally have kissed by now! I mean sleeping in the same bed willingly and you guys aren't even dating," teased Erza. Lucy just blushed slightly, but just enough for Mira to pick up on it.

"Ah! Lucy! Don't tell me you guys shared a kiss already!" said an elated Mirajane. Lucy was not at a complete loss for words.

"I-I-I n-never s-said th-that, Mira!" replied Lucy.

"I'm just teasing you, silly," smiled Mira. She was proud of herself for making Lucy so embarrassed.

"Well, I'll be going upstairs now," said Lucy as she whipped her body around and headed for the stairs. Levy, Mira, and Erza all giggled slightly.

"Oi Natsu, you and Lucy have been sharing a bed this whole time?" asked Gray after overhearing the girls' conversation.

"Yeah, what about it?" said Natsu.

"That's MAN!" shouted Elfman.

"Oi Natsu, have ya made a move yet on Lucy?" asked Macao.

"Uh, a move? What do ya mean?" asked Natsu.

"You know! Like something to claim her as your girl!" said Macao. Natsu laughed.

"No, I don't think so," replied Natsu. He wasn't really sure what could be considered a "move" and "making Lucy his girl".

"Well, go and be a man and do something about that!" said Elfman.

"We've all known about what happened in that forest between you two and we all know how you both feel about each other," stated Freed as he entered the group. Natsu just turned his head, his cheeks the same shade as his hair.

"And what was that about Mira saying you guys kissed?" asked Gray teasingly.

"None of your business, you icy pervert!" shouted Natsu. Macao laughed.

"Well, it looks like our Natsu has grown up and gotten himself a woman!" said Macao. Natsu just turned around and headed upstairs.

When Natsu entered the bedroom, he found Lucy around under the covers and reading a book and jotting down notes. Natsu assumed it was to help her write her novel. When Lucy heard the door open, she turned a saw Natsu walking in.

"They are so loud sometimes," said Lucy in reference to the teasing of them.

"Yeah," said Natsu as he let out a sigh. Lucy immediately picked up on what he was feeling.

"Oi Natsu, are you okay?" asked Lucy in a concerned tone as she put down her book.

"Yeah, it's just I've been thinking about what happened this morning between us and well…" Natsu's voice began to trail off. Lucy blushed at remembering their kiss from that morning.

"Well what?" asked Lucy.

"Well I'm just wondering what that means for us now, I guess," said Natsu while looking straight at Lucy. As Lucy thought about this, Natsu came and sat down on the bed next to her. "And well, I know how you feel and now you know how I feel…" he continued. Lucy just put her head down and looked at her hands. The next she knows, Natsu is holding her hand.

"Well, I think I've already answered my own question," said Natsu. Lucy looked up at him to see him smiling at her. "I want you to be mine."

Lucy just stared at Natsu for a short while before a huge smile spread across her face. She was at a complete loss for words. The only thing she could think to do was kiss him. And she did just that.

**A/N: WOO! Steamy chapter ;D anyway I know I said i would post this before Monday but I had to rewrite it like 3 times before I was finally happy with it. This was the first time I have ever written a scene like that so let me know what you thought of it! I'll try to post the next chapter asap. The song I used was Let It Go from Frozen. The lyrics belong to their respected owners. Thanks for reading!**

**~Aeroniel**


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